A year in music: Sally Hedberg's 2011 picks.

As a lover (almost to a fault) of nightlife and live music I can say with sincerity that 2011 was a year that did not disappoint. The local output, the national tours and recorded albums all delivered to a high standard. I was impressed by a lot but everyone inevitably has their favorites. Here are mine:

Best national act live performances

1. Robyn at First Avenue- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Robyn deserves to be the biggest female pop star in the world. 

2. YACHT at the Triple Rock- Ironic that a band that so explicitly embraces the occult is the band that gave me the proverbial “religious experience.” No joke, I think I may have levitated.

3. The Kills at First Avenue- Obsession with Alison Mosshart aside, the sheer grit and sexual tension of this set was unforgettable. Fashionista note: still drooling over her Dillinger Four tee-shirt/leather jacket combo.

4.Crystal Castles at First Avenue- Years from now my hipster children will read of how the perpetually cool Alice Glass legendarily dove into the crowd with a broken ankle, to which I will respond: “I was there, man.”

5. St. Vincent at the Walker Art Center- Her new material was strong. Her beauty was astonishing and in an hour of startling intensity Annie Clark proved her skill as musician actually expounded all of the hype.

6. Cut Copy at First Avenue- Buzzband? Yes. A dance party that rivaled the sweatiest of pill-popping electro performances? You got it.

7. Yuck at the Varsity- It was a show, yes. But it played out like an untarnished, Dinosaur Jr.-esque garage rock jam-sesh, which is to say, it was incredible.

Best live local performances

1.The Tribe and Big Cats Album Release at 7th St. Entry

2. Crimes album release at 7th St. Entry

3. Buffalo Moon at Hell's Kitchen

4. Howler at the Triple Rock

Best albums

1. "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" Girls

2. "LiveLoveA$AP"- A$AP Rocky

3. "Parallax"- Atlas Sound

4. "Strange Mercy"- St. Vincent

5. "Yuck"- Yuck

6. "Kaputt"- Destroyer

7. "Past Life Martyred Saints"- EMA

8. "Within and Without"- Washed Out (note: this also gets sexiest album cover).

9. "The Whole Love"- Wilco

10. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra"- Unknown Mortal Orchestra

11. "Take Care"- Drake

12. "Era Extraña"- Neon Indian

Best Local Albums

1. "Pink Mink"- Pink Mink

2. "Colored Emotions"- Night Moves

3. "You and Me, Ghost"- Sleeping in the Aviary

4. "Bad Time Zoo"- Sims

5. "This One's Different"- (EP) Howler

Worst Album of 2011 (note: I so badly wanted this to be good. My friends were right in the end).

"Lulu"- Lou Reed and Metallica

Worst live performance of 2011

Lana Del Rey singing "Video Games" in a random German bar.

Song that most makes me want to drive a power tool into my head

"Someone Like You"- Adele

Who I most want to see make a record in 2012

Beach House

the xx (are they even a band anymore?)

Courtney Stodden (LOL)

The Raconteurs